The Gustavus men’s hockey team hosted non-conference opponent Marian College on Saturday night at the Don Robert’s Ice Rink in the Lund Center. Despite outshooting Marian 30-24, the Gusties fell to the Sabres 4-2 and suffered their eighth loss of the season. Marian improves to 5-7-2 overall while Gustavus falls to 3-8-0.
Marian took a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal 2:03 into the first period. Sophomore forward Chad Little scored the goal for the Sabres with assists from Carl Bresser and Ian Carroll. The Gusties nearly tied the game with approximately six minutes to play in the first period when senior forward Craig Jankowski’s slap shot beat Marian goaltender Willington Cowan but found the outside of the post to deflect wide. With less than a minute to play in the first period, sophomore defenseman Jon Keseley attempted to the equalize with a shot near the blue line. The Sabre goaltender knocked down the shot and junior defenseman Keith Detlefsen shot the rebound high and the Sabres held onto a 1-0 lead after one period of play.
The Sabres doubled the score with a goal from senior defenseman Andy Allan at 2:40 of the second period. Senior foward Ian Carroll recorded his second assist of the night on the goal. Senior forward Drew Keller cut the Marian lead in half with a goal at 11:32 of the second period. Jon Keseley and Kyle Menken were credited with the assists on Keller’s first goal of the season. Marian enjoyed a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play despite being outshot 13-6 by Gustavus in the second period. The Gusties struggled on the power play going 0-7 in the first two periods of play.
Freshman forward Carl Bresser scored the third goal for Marian at 5:51 of the third period. Senior Foward Ian Carroll recorded his third assist of the night as the Sabres took a 3-1 lead. Gustavus responded four minutes later with a power play goal from junior defenseman Keith Detlefsen. Adam Meyer and Joe Ulwelling recorded the assists on the goal. It seemed that it was just a matter of time before the Gusties would tie the game up, but sophomore forward Chad Little added on an insurance goal for the Sabres at 13:20 of the third period to give the Sabres a 4-2 non-conference win.
Sabre goaltender Willington Cowan faced 30 shots and made 28 saves to record his first win of the season. Gustie goaltender Scott Mickelson faced 24 shots and made 20 saves and fell to 0-4 on the season.
Gustavus will take a holiday break for nearly month and return to action in a MIAC weekend series against Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. January 14-15.